Glass Discussion & Research. NO IDENTIFICATION REQUESTS here please. > Glass Book Reviews

Venini Glass Book & Glass Books in general

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Frank:
My Turn  :twisted:

The large publishers and booksellers created the problems by fighting over discounts, combined with the effects of modern accountancy that penalises stock holding. Accordingly publishers generally sell a book at cover for one year and then remainder. If it sells out within a year it gets reprinted. Costs are saved by using stock photos and cheap acidy paper. Most of the glossy titles are commissioned from professional writers with little or no knowledge of the subject. The large booksellers dictate the prices.

Against this you have the specialist publishers and booksellers. And of course the impact of eBay.

My own title 'Ysart Glass' was designed and produced to be a long life reference for collectors. Everything was specially photographed, the book was printed on Acid free paper and I personally supervised the colour calibration at the start of the printing. Overall production cost was about £25 per copy, 3,000 copies, and initial cover price was £69. Some 700 copies were sold in that first year. Unfortunately due to a recession the banks withdrew finance and the printers could not be paid. I lost nearly 2,000 copies, which were bought from the printers by Caithness Glass at a knockdown price, and they remaindered some. I bought a lot of the remaindered copies myself at about £8 a copy. Now the supply has run out and second hand copies sell between 100 and 400 pounds. Needless to say I went bust, though rather than go bankrupt I worked and paid off most of the 7-figure debt I had built up. Two other titles in the pipeline got stopped. One of which later got published by an American publisher, also gone bust now, in a much poorer quality than had I finished it.

So, if you want good well-researched titles of relatively small market subjects please be prepared to pay for them. The value will be certain.

I think that any book by Waltraud Neuwirth is worth the money as they are well researched and detailed. Of the expensive titles, the Bloch-Dermant's are works of art in themselves.

At the other end of the price band there are gems to be found too, well researched and packed with info if not with pictures for example Ivo's Glass Fact File is an absolute gem and one of my most referred to books.

For selecting - look at the intro's, biblio's and acknowledgements to get an impression of the quality of content. Were editors or consultants used, are the editors glass 'names'. Do the images come from private collections or auction houses libraries? The Internet will often turn up opinions on titles, my own glass bibliography, 1,400 titles has some collector’s opinions included - not enough and it needs a major update. A possible future project.

Self-published titles are often badly produced and lacking peer review and some of those authors are known plagiarists or to state rumour as certain fact.

In other words it is a minefield but one that can be walked through with care and of course threads on this message board.

paradisetrader:
I'm so pleased this topic has flourished and broadened to a more gnereal discussion which I'm am finding very helpful. Thank you all.

Bernard
You have given me a few chuckles !
"more shelf space devoted to crested china"> "those dusty old tomes on C17 drinking glasses">  LOL Its so refreshing to see you write like this !!!! And so TRUE ! LOL again

High St. Bookseller> Understood and agreed but I dont think there ever was one in the Walworth Road - this area not being noted for it's literary pretentions !! BUT what we do have is a second hand bookshop - a rare thing indeed ! - and 2 surprisng finds I had there today !
1) Josh Simpson (Chaikin) orignially $35
Destined for my good friend Terry who has helped me so much in my glass quest and partic on obtaining my Murano books, which I love despite some shortcommings.  
2) NOT glass but photography: Leny Reifenstal's The Last of the Nuba - a classic for photographers - absolutely stunning.

Pewter > You are welcome
Sticky topics > I had started work on a very short intro for newbies posting pics and have set up a "Glassmessages" pic account at a free hosting site but ...as is wont to happen, I got distracted and must get back to it. Then, I guess, email Angela to get it "stuck"

Ivo
Your input always appreciated

--- Quote ---Venini Books - duplicate photos
--- End quote ---
> Interesting & cautionary

--- Quote ---And the unsigned ones you're after do not appear in any book
--- End quote ---
Thank you for this serious REALITY CHECK I guess you are saying that only Ebay sellers have the magical ability to attribute unsigned Venini with absolute certainly !  A sobering thought but hang on - this book purports to be a catalogue of everything produced by Vetrerai Venini - although its hard to belive that amounts to only 224 "entries" during 57 years.

I note that the cheaper copies have already disappeared from Amazon


--- Quote ---check for remaindered
--- End quote ---
A very useful suggestion which I am going to follow up on all my book searching from now on and which the cheaper copies of this were (one was noted as having a remainder mark).

Wow Frank
Thanks for sharing this with us. What an eye opener !
As an accountant in a former life I find those costs shocking. For serious Ysart collectors paying £100s (even in the 90s I suspect) and more for a vase I can't see the price as being offputting but rather the problem as one of distribution and shelf life (at full price).
I note that Ysart Glass was published (1990) before the days of Amazon and other online channels of distribution existed.
Yes, that recession I remember all too well and suffered badly from, but also, if I remember correctly, it was the beginnings of agressive discounting and perhaps some overeagerness at that time ? Certainly the "shareholder value" concept was gripping financial markets then, when stock (inventory) of any kind became a dirty word.

While we would all prefer the real thing, given your experiences, should you not consider the e-book route for your 3rd title ? I am in the early stages of planning some ventures down that road myself, where costs are a fraction, and distribution a cynch.

Back to book buying

--- Quote ---For selecting - look at the intro's, biblio's and acknowledgements
--- End quote ---
This is common sense really but damn good advice - I'll bet even hardened collectors look at the pics first !

This only feasble where one is able to inspect before buying which has not been the case with most of my purchases so far - those having been sent from the States ! (cheaper than buying the same title here including postage !)

Where you can find what you want here its a good arguement for buying at a bookshop or alternatively actually taking Amazon up on its offer of a 30-day Returns Guarantee for anything that doesnt come up to scratch.

While it has been hard for me to commit amounts larger than I would normally pay for a vase on a book which Im not sure I'll find useful, I dont regret any of the books I have bought.  They have been fascinating reading & viewing but I have actually identified more of my collection thru this board and other online sources !

Yes, well researched titles will always be a worthwhile investment but its difficult for new collectors to know what's out there let alone whats good. Online reviews are fine once you find something along the right lines (there wasn't one for this title)  but searching for books by subject (without an author name) is a nightmare on Amazon. It has just taken me 15-20 minutes to re-find this title and I had all the details (except ISBN) !!!You should publish your bibliography ! I'd be prepared to pay ! (a modest sum )   :)

Peter

RAY:
peter,
the book's i got are mostly by leslie pina, and she covers most murano works and not just the rare glass, i got these a bit ago off this seller below, Scandinavian Glass 1930-2000: Smoke & Ice is an excellent book also the circa Fifties Glass from Europe & America 1st edition and the 2nd edition are excellent books and worth getting both and all with price guide's they cost me £96 to get them here and he will send as a gift no no paying the dreaded



http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=378&item=4500148111&rd=1

Frank:
My bibliography has been on line for 3 years or so. Direct link http://www.ysartglass.com/Booklist/Topics.htm

Anonymous:
http://www.americancraftmuseum.org/
click on exhibitions, then archived exhibitions, then Venetian glass. The catalogue is excellent.
Rushing off to SOFA http://www.sofaexpo.com/chicago/2004/gal/zest.htm
Adam A

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